A total of 250 organ transplants have taken place in the State’s hospitals so far this year, the HSE said on Thursday, with kidney transplants accounting for more than half.
The HSE’s Organ Donation Transplant Ireland Office (ODTI) said the transplants had been possible due to “the selflessness of 86 deceased and 33 living organ donors and their families”.
Despite the pressures on the health service post-Covid, the numbers are approaching figures from the pre-pandemic period. Between 2015 and 2019, the average annual figure was 283.
The number of kidney transplants for 2022 involving deceased donors was 130 compared to a five-year average to 2019 of 128 but the much smaller numbers for heart and lung transplants are, at 10 and 18 respectively, down significantly from averages of 16 and 33.
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The number of liver transplants completed this year was 51, down from an average of 61, while the figure for pancreas transplants was up from two to eight.
ODTI Clinical Lead Dr Catherine Motherway said after two years in which transplant numbers had been significantly restricted, Covid had continued to impact on the situation through the first three months of the year.
“So I do feel there is the potential for those numbers to improve although I hate the word ‘number’ in this context because every time I say it, it represents somebody that I, or my colleagues, have lost in intensive care.
“But I do think that the opportunity to offer organ donation in Irish intensive care units has begun to recover for two reasons. One, obviously because of the vaccination programme, people aren’t as sick and they aren’t in ICU as much with Covid but also because the lockdowns are gone and people didn’t present as much with strokes or after traffic accidents. So the causes of death were different.”
Dr Motherway said that as greater resources are provided to ICU facilities and transplant structures the ODTI would be better placed to maximise the benefit of every offer of a donation.
She paid tribute on Thursday to the donors and expressed gratitude to the families of those who had died.
“Each and every time we are humbled by the courage shown by our donor families. This time of year we all remember those we have lost. We hope that our donor families may find comfort and some consolation in knowing that their gift has saved and changed the lives of others,” she said.
Reacting to the figures, the Irish Kidney Association said it was “heartened to hear of the increase in organ donations and transplants compared to 2021 and 2020″.
It expressed concern that the number of kidney transplants involving live donors had, at 33, not yet returned to normal and said resources remained an issue.
It said it was awaiting the recommendations of a report on an incident in November 2021 when an organ transplant had not gone ahead due to a lack of resources.
The organisation’s Chief Executive, Carol Moore, also called for the publication of detailed data on seeking consent for organ donation in hospitals and more transparency around transplant waiting lists. “We need more clarity about the reasons why more transplant operations are not taking place in Ireland,” she said.
The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, said about 500 people are waiting for a transplant at any one time but that the publication last month of the Human Tissue Bill, which provides for a soft opt-out system of consent, “represents an important step forward in trying to save more lives by increasing the donor pool in Ireland, while ensuring that the wishes of a deceased person and their next of kin remain central to any decision about organ donation”.
He urged people to have a conversation with family members or others they are close to about the issue.
“I would encourage families across the country to talk to your loved ones about organ donation and its role in saving lives. By having that conversation, you and your family members can make your wishes known.”
